Chapter 22

Because Wen Qingyin had practiced martial arts, her hearing and eyesight were sharp. She could hear all of this.

For a moment, Wen Qingyin felt somewhat powerless. She wanted to cultivate immortality. She also wanted to obtain this kind of mighty power that could shake heaven and earth.

She admitted that the moment she saw Little Sparrow, she had developed her own little thoughts.

She was afraid that because she was not truly weak, she would lose this precious opportunity.

For a moment, she recalled how her colleagues had attacked her for being a woman, as if she were coveting something that had never belonged to her in the first place.

So even this was not allowed?

Repeated failures made Wen Qingyin’s mood sink.

She tried hard to comfort herself. Although fate often played jokes on her, at least she had kept her life.

She curled her lips self-mockingly, and then heard Little Sparrow say, “I know.”

“She definitely isn’t an ordinary person. There are calluses on her hands. She often holds a sword. But what does that matter?”

“At least it’s true that she needed to be saved. It’s also true that she wants to cultivate immortality and become stronger.”

Her older sister was left speechless, and Little Sparrow seemed to know what her older sister was worried about. She comforted her, “It’s fine. She doesn’t have the ability to harm us anyway. She doesn’t even know our real names. It was just a chance meeting by the water.”

Yes. Because of Wen Qingyin’s deception, Little Sparrow had been unwilling to leave her true name.

But she was still willing to befriend her. They sat beside the bonfire, and Little Sparrow described what the major sects of the cultivation world were like, then recommended one of them to her.

“Actually, Qingyun Sect suits you very well.” Little Sparrow poked at the bonfire. She no longer had spiritual energy, so she simply maintained her twelve- or thirteen-year-old appearance. There was still some baby fat on her cheeks, making her look especially exquisite and cute beneath the dim yellow firelight.

She continued, “Don’t look down on it just because it’s a small sect. Their sect master was born with natural sword bones, and among the three disciples she accepted, two were also born with natural sword bones. She has rich experience teaching people born with natural sword bones.”

“And she also cares greatly for her disciples. She absolutely won’t let you die halfway.”

Wen Qingyin was completely unfamiliar with the cultivation world and had no feelings toward [stolen content]those sects either. She also did not think Little Sparrow would harm her, so she nodded and agreed. “Then I’ll go to Qingyun Sect.”

In truth, Little Sparrow forgot to mention one drawback of Qingyun Sect.

That was that it was far too close to Wen Qingyin’s hometown. It only took one day of travel to reach it.

Little Sparrow left her at the foot of the mountain. Seeing that nothing strange had happened this whole day, her older sister relaxed her vigilance toward Wen Qingyin.

Even when they were about to part, they still had not exchanged names. At the moment of farewell, Wen Qingyin hesitated several times, then finally caught Little Sparrow’s hand. Her dark jade-like eyes shimmered with watery light.

Wen Qingyin was still wearing that bridal robe. The fire-like color made her appearance even more extraordinarily beautiful. Looking at her like this, Little Sparrow felt, in a daze, as if she were some heartless person abandoning her newlywed wife, and for no reason, she felt somewhat guilty.

Wen Qingyin wanted to speak but stopped, while her older sister had no such patience and kept urging Little Sparrow to hurry up and leave.

Little Sparrow actually could have left directly, but she could not ignore Wen Qingyin’s gaze.

She understood the apology in Wen Qingyin’s eyes, and she also knew why Wen Qingyin had used such roundabout methods to fight for this chance. Wen Qingyin seemed to feel sorry toward her, to feel that this opportunity of hers had come through improper means.

So Little Sparrow could not simply walk away.

Her older sister was still urging her.

Her older sister had grown up in an all-female world. She did not understand Wen Qingyin’s twists and turns of thought, but Little Sparrow did. She knew why Wen Qingyin had acted this way, and also knew why Wen Qingyin felt guilty because of it.

She had transformed herself into her fifteen- or sixteen-year-old appearance again. She said that according to her age, she should have grown to look like this long ago.

Although this once drew mockery from her older sister, Little Sparrow ignored her completely.

At fifteen or sixteen, Little Sparrow’s baby fat had not fully faded, but paired with her deep-blue eyes and long hair, she carried a few traces of a young person’s clear handsomeness.

She wiped away the tears at the corners of Wen Qingyin’s eyes with her hand and softly comforted her, “There is nothing wrong with fighting for yourself.”

“I know you were deceiving me, but I was willing.”

Wen Qingyin’s tears fell in large drops. For one instant, she lost the ability to speak. She held Little Sparrow’s hand tightly, her palm trembling and sticky with cold sweat. She was afraid Little Sparrow would leave.

“Can you really not tell me… your name?” Wen Qingyin’s voice was choked.

“…Although I deceived you, I’m not a bad person. I swear, I will never harm you.”

Little Sparrow only smiled. The faint morning light fell across her face. She seemed very happy, and also full of expectation. “How about in a few years?”

“Zhu Qingyun is very good at teaching disciples. When I hear in the cultivation world that Zhu Qingyun has a fourth disciple, I’ll know that person is you.”

“When the time comes, I’ll come find you.”

“I’ll come formally get to know you then.”

Shang Que still waved her hand and walked into the morning light. Such a brief day, such a Little Sparrow who had touched her life as lightly as a dragonfly skimming water, was so light she seemed like a dream.

But Wen Qingyin could remember her for a lifetime.

Wen Qingyin had always looked forward to their reunion.

Starting from the day she entered Qingyun Sect.

This promise allowed Wen Qingyin to endure many things she had once been unable to endure.

This even surprised Wen Qingyin, because she believed herself to be coldhearted and ungrateful.

Although she had not severed her mortal ties, it was close to having severed them.

In three years, she reached Foundation Establishment. When she went to the mortal realm to sever her worldly ties, she conveniently killed a sword cultivator at great perfection Foundation Establishment. That person was the senior brother of that “river god” from back then.

Everyone in the sect once believed Wen Qingyin was a peerless genius, a natural sword bone among natural sword bones.

Her master cherished talent and personally took her to search for her Dao heart.

Unfortunately, after another year, her Dao heart still had not appeared.

She had not even formed a sword heart, despite the fact that Wen Qingyin’s swordsmanship had long since developed its own style.

Her master did not understand.

Perhaps because of those years of interaction, combined with Wen Qingyin killing her ruler, killing her mother, and killing her siblings, her master finally saw clearly that Wen Qingyin was absolutely not a kind person.

Wen Qingyin’s swordsmanship was also tempered there.

Two years in the arena. Wen Qingyin fought her way to the top. During that period, she thought countless times about what exactly her Dao heart was, and what exactly her Dao path was.

She had referenced many people’s Dao paths.

For example, her master’s Dao of Slaughter, her senior sister’s Dao of Freedom, and the Dao of Unfettered Ease of elders from other sects. She had even heard of the Sword Dao and the Ruthless Dao, but Wen Qingyin felt that not one of them was what she wanted.

In the arena’s dim resting room, she wiped her longsword again and again. The cold, white, dazzling light reflected onto Wen Qingyin’s expressionless face.

In truth, she did not care about anyone. The Ruthless Dao seemed rather good too.

But she always thought of Little Sparrow countless times, and with that, remembered the promise she had made to Little Sparrow.

She had said she would be a good person.

But then she thought of the mother and younger brother she had killed.

Someone like her was not really a good person anymore, was she?

She should have been as coldhearted and ungrateful as before, forgetting her promise with Little Sparrow. When they met again, they would already be strangers. Perhaps she would do something to repay Little Sparrow’s kindness, but only that much.

But why could she not forget?

She always remembered Little Sparrow’s hand wiping away her tears, remembered those gentle deep-blue eyes, as if morning stars were leaping within them.

Remembered her saying, “I know you were deceiving me, but I was willing.”

Remembered how, when Wen Qingyin wanted to speak but stopped herself, Little Sparrow understood the words she had not said.

She could not forget Little Sparrow.

Because she had grown for so many years, been ignored and looked down on for so many years, been considered someone who should not fight for things that did not belong to her for so many years.

Finally, someone had seen her.

That person pulled her up during her darkest moment and pulled her into the slightly cool morning sun.

She could remember Little Sparrow for a lifetime.

Her Dao heart was formed because of Little Sparrow. She finally understood what she wanted.

She only wanted to be seen.

Wen Qingyin’s gaze fell on Shang Que’s face, then landed on that severed dragon horn.

Toward Little Sparrow, she felt unfamiliarity and attachment. If one examined those feelings carefully, they had nothing to do with romance.

She only wanted Little Sparrow to see her more.

Unfortunately…

Little Sparrow was dead.

Wen Qingyin’s Dao heart had shattered once because of this. Afterward, she slowly adjusted it by herself, but she always hoped to be a little closer to Little Sparrow.

Unfortunately, there were almost no remains of Little Sparrow on the market.

It was said that Little Sparrow had already died before the attack on the dragon race. Little Sparrow’s family had long since properly handled her remains, leaving only one section of dragon horn as a keepsake.

Fortunately, this section of dragon horn was in her hands.

Wen Qingyin thought this with boundless relief.

Perhaps she should also let Little Sparrow rest in peace, just as she had treated Little Sparrow’s family members. But she could not do it.

Wen Qingyin gently stroked Shang Que’s head, feeling that she now had a new place to entrust her feelings.

She looked at Shang Que’s complicated expression and was afraid Shang Que would misunderstand something, so she picked up the dragon horn and said to Shang Que, “Do you recognize it?”

She knew Shang Que was still afraid of her. Perhaps Shang Que knew her own background and also knew about the dragon race’s destruction in the cultivation world, so she probably would not explain the truth. Therefore, Wen Qingyin simply gave Shang Que a step down. No matter what Shang Que said, Wen Qingyin would accept it.

But Shang Que did not know any of this. She already knew her expression had given her away. Her heart pounded wildly, cold sweat breaking out. Countless lies gathered at her lips, but in the end, they only turned into a nod.

“I’ve seen it.”

“When I was still a wandering cultivator, I saw an extremely similar… horn.”

“And that drew over a very strange person in black. She killed many people. I thought I would die there too, but unexpectedly, after she obtained that horn, she left.”

Wen Qingyin: ?

Wen Qingyin put away her attitude of caring about nothing.

Shang Que’s description made her think of someone. At that moment, she could no longer care about anything else. Somewhat panicked, she turned Shang Que around and examined her from head to toe.

“Were you injured in front of her?”

“Were you the only one who survived, or did many people survive?”

Shang Que hesitated for a moment and felt she still had to complete this lie. She steeled her heart. Wasn’t it just blackening her own reputation?!

“I was the only one who survived.”

Unexpectedly, the moment those words came out, Wen Qingyin became even more panicked.

Could the Bone Thief be any good person?

If she only left Shang Que alive, had she discovered something?

Everyone knew that the Bone Thief was a mere mortal who wanted to replace her body with dragon bones. Could it be that she had discovered Shang Que’s true form and planned to raise Shang Que up before harvesting her dragon bones?

She touched Shang Que from head to toe, even using spiritual energy to investigate whether the Bone Thief had left any mark on Shang Que.

Unfortunately, Wen Qingyin had not studied these things deeply. She only read the original at bailiantales.com examined her roughly and could not see whether the Bone Thief had left anything on Shang Que.

Wen Qingyin did not dare investigate too deeply, because Shang Que’s body was tense. Shang Que probably knew that she was a dragon and was afraid others would discover it, so faced with Wen Qingyin’s probing, she looked as if she might run away at any moment.

In the end, Wen Qingyin sighed.

She searched the room and took out a warm white jade pendant, then crouched down and personally hung it at Shang Que’s waist.

She sensed Shang Que’s resistance toward her. At this moment, she finally understood why Shang Que always looked afraid when facing her.

“This is a defensive artifact.”

“It can defend against all attacks on you before I arrive.”

Wen Qingyin stood up and touched Shang Que’s head. “So don’t take it off lightly.”

Shang Que, who had not expected this outcome: ?

Her face was practically full of question marks.

Her hands clenched together behind her back. Completely confused, she asked, “Senior Sister Wen, why are you so good to me?”